


Clexa Oneshots

by TaraTyler



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-30
Updated: 2015-10-30
Packaged: 2018-04-28 20:55:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5105450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaraTyler/pseuds/TaraTyler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>drabbles and minifics about my post-apocalyptic children</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Painter AU

Liberal arts college wasn’t exactly what Clarke had expected when she had signed up. She had been looking forward to sitting on those green grassy lawns and just sketching for hours and hours on end. Instead, she had ended up sitting there and just waiting whilst twiddling her thumbs for her teacher to tell her once again that nothing she had done was anywhere near good enough to suit. Art was the only thing that Clarke had ever been good enough at. Maybe it was just because she had been so occupied with portrait sketches of that girl in the quad whose name she didn’t even know. She had no idea how she had started drawing this girl or why but, once she had started, she couldn’t seem to stop. The image of her face, drawn in focus, lost in space, or even just simply being was seared into her mind.

Even after the failing mark on her most recent painting, Clarke found herself in the quad again, looking for the girl. Her face was the most fascinating thing she had ever attempted to draw. Every aspect of the girl was the single most fascinating thing that she could put from pen or pencil to paper. However, it seemed that she was running late.

She had no idea of how to pull up the image in her mind to sketch an image of her without the mystery girl to look at. She was nearly completely incapable of sitting still until she saw the girl walking across the courtyard, looking just as fantastic as always. She was absent mindedly looking in some sort of journal, chewing on the eraser of the pencil in her hand. She somehow couldn’t figure out how to stop fidgeting still yet, until Lexa looked up and finally made eye contact with her. In the five weeks she had been sketching the dark haired girl they had never had this kind of eye contact. 

She hadn’t been able to muster up the courage to talk to her in that time either but somehow, possibly due to all of the eye contact, the mystery girl stood and for some reason began to walk towards her. Clarke somehow managed to get even more twitchy, not sure of how to react. Hurriedly, she slammed the sketchbook closed, and shoved the chewed on pencil behind her ear. That done, she smoothed out her shirt with her hands.

“Hey, I’ve caught you staring at me like twelve times in the past three weeks. May I help you with something?” she asked.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’ve just been drawing a lot lately for my Portraits class, and I sort of started to borrow your face a lot.” Clarke apologized, her face going blood red.

“You’re an artist? Oh, my apologies, I am Lexa Heda.” she introduced herself awkwardly. Casually, she took a seat next to Clarke. Clarke stuck her half grey hand out to her. "Clarke Griffin, sorry about the creepy stalker eyes." They shook and Clarke finally gave her one of her most disarming grins.

“I don’t mind so much, now that I know what it was all about. May I see them?” Lexa asked.

“Only if you tell me what you’ve been so focused on, leaning against that tree everyday.” Clarke responds with a much softer grin.

“I’m a writer. Usually I’m working on one assignment or another, sometimes my own book.” Lexa admits looking a little ashamed of herself.

“Romance?” Clarke asks, wiggling her eyebrows teasingly.

“Something kind of like that?” Lexa teases back. “Do I get to see those drawings now?”

Clarke nervously fidgets with the notebook chewing on the end of the pencil again. “I’ve actually I’ve- never really shown anyone outside of classes.” she said, her cheeks going pink.

“You can trust me. I mean, we are total strangers, but you can trust me.” Lexa says, with a light hearted smile.

“I guess that you just have one of those faces.” Clarke admits, and passes the notebook to the writer.

Lexa opens it and flips through the pages. It started out full of sketches of strangers unaware of her presence, animals, landscapes, and plant studies. Later, the sketches were interspersed with portrait studies of her. Those were probably the best of everything in the book. Clarke was an amazing artist and Lexa was immediately taken with the care that she had put into drawing her. Her style was realistic Lexa felt like she was looking at a black and white photo of herself, but for the edges.

“These are beautiful, Clarke. I mean really gorgeous. I can’t believe that you managed to draw me like this, just sitting out here in that amount of time.” Lexa gushes, Clarke looking amazed by the praises she was receiving. 

“You honestly think so?” she asks, her cheeks redder than they had ever been.

“At some point I should totally sit for you, when you can sit down and take your time actually doing your thing.” Lexa offered.

“Have you ever sat for something like this before?” Clarke asks.

“No, but I’m a very fast learner.” Lexa says with a stunning smile that sent a rolling shiver down Clarke’s spine. “Give me your number and we can set up something for tomorrow?” she asks hoping that she doesn’t come off as sounding too hasty.

“Sure, that sounds awesome?” Clarke agrees immediately, tearing a sheet from the back of one of the notebooks from her bag and scribbling on it.

 

Clarke had a studio reserved as soon as she was able to. She went in a half hour early and set up with just a chair, some lighting, and drapes. Clarke propped up an easel and allowed herself to breathe in the comforting smells of the paints and adjust to the weight of the brushes in her hands. The sunlight on her skin was warm, she sat back in her seat, closed her eyes, and enjoyed it for a moment, having always enjoyed a little quiet alone time. She was already nearly half asleep by the time Lexa came in. 

“Clarke, did I take too long?” Lexa asks, putting a hand on her shoulder, and shaking her gently.

“I’m awake, I swear!” Clarke jerks up when Lexa comes in. 

“Right...right.” she says sarcastically. “Are you ready to show me how to do this?” the brunette girl asks.

“Uhm, yeah, sure.” Clarke says as she stands up and guides Lexa to the dais she has set up. She turns the chair around and gestures for her model to take a seat. She sits backwards in the chair and Clarke hands her her notebook. 

“Just do your thing and I’ll do mine.” Clarke encourages her. “You don’t really need to do much, and if you need any breaks then just tell me.” she says with a kindly smile. 

“So I just sit in the chair and do nothing while you watch me like that? Do I need to change outfits at all or anything?” Lexa asks.

“No, you’re great. If I feel like I want to I can just reimagine your outfit.” Clarke says dismissively. “I might have to ask you to tilt your head back or something if you move too much, sorry, but it probably won’t be too often so you don’t need to worry about that.”

“Oh no, it’s just that this is going to be a lot easier than I thought it was.” Lexa informs her with a rather sassy smile.

“Okay then. Are you settled?” Clarke asks. “I don’t want you having to move around too much.” she adjusts so that she can get the best view of Lexa. Clarke stands and moves behind her gently, pulling down the tie that held up Lexa’s long dark hair so that it flowed freely around her shoulders. The blonde’s heart bashed against her ribs like a hammer against a nail. The girl in question tilted her head as Clarke brunched it over one of Lexa’s shoulders.

“There...now it catches the sunlight. Leave it just like that.” Clarke says, her eyes focused on Lexa, completely the professional but for the flush in her cheeks as she gazed at her model. “Beautiful.” she breathes. “I mean...that’s perfect. Thanks. You’re a champ.” she corrects herself.

“You’re a champ?!” she hisses to herself in vain disgust with herself as she twitches behind her canvas once more. She lifts a brush and finally makes contact with her canvas. Lexa, remaining as still as possible, draws a pen from her pocket and her notebook already in her hand and uses the back of the chair to bare down on. Finally that touch of inspiration Clarke was looking for zinged through her and she began to paint, first slowly and then with the passion of one suddenly possessed by her muse. Lexa noticed and admired that the light fell upon Clarke in much the same way that it did her, her blonde hair shining in the sunshine like a halo. And Lexa was falling in love with the light Clarke was, the way she began to produce it from within herself.


	2. I Could Never Hate You

The Ice Nation was on the attack and the alliance felt as though they had all been fighting for days on end. Clarke’s sword was so heavy in her hands, and her handgun had run out of bullets long ago. Lexa fought at her side on her right, Bellamy and Octavia Blake on her left. Fallen Ice Nation warriors littered the ground around them. In the past few hours that they had been fighting, they had all saved one another’s lives so many times that they no longer knew who owed whom their lives. Every single one of the Trigedasleng and the Sky People were covered in mud and blood. The fighting had broken out at a little after daybreak, and even as Clarke brought down man after woman after man, the sun began to set and even the sun seemed to be blood tinged. Never once during the battles had Lexa left Clarke’s side. Repairing the alliance after the Heda’s betrayal had been more than tough for the both of them, but a strong working, professional relationship had pulled through the wreckage. Still, Clarke often caught guilt-ridden eyes watching her from across the command tent. Lexa’s feelings had gone nowhere.

Her arms felt like lead and it was seriously messing with the exhausted blonde’s reaction times.She brought up her weapon to block a downward slash from an Ice Nation man with dead eyes, but was much too late and her sword was dashed from her hands, leaving her with only her dagger and an empty pistol. She scrambled at her belt for the dagger and barely ducked away from the sword flying at her...no, now he was aiming for Lexa, assuming that Clarke was as good as dead already. Then again, she was virtually useless as a weaponless fighter on the battlefield.

Lexa on the other hand, was just as graceful, powerful, and terrible a fighter as usual. CLarke knew as well that shw would get in the way and get someone killed if she didn’t do something or distract them. She heard Octavia scream “HEDA!!!” at the top of her lungs and saw the onslaught that Lexa was under, having to deal with the runoff from Clarke’s inability to fight to her full extent. The healer brandished her dagger and charged, slamming the weapon into the first man’s side, just as he elbowed her nose, nearly knocking her amongst the body covered ground. Still, she pressed on , slitting another’s throat just as she turned, the sword piercing Clarke’s side, two or more inches deep into her side or more. She registered no pain, and only remained conscious long enough to compute that that was not a good thing.

\-----/////-----

“Blake, get her out of here! I’ll cover you and your brother.” the Heda ordered, slicing down all who decided to approach the Commander and the woman she had claimed as her own. 

Bellamy dropped to lift Clarke as Octavia guarded them and Alexa out down everyone who came near. Octavia couldn't help but notice the desperation on the Heda's face when she called out instructions. Clearly she had feelings for Clarke, but the new Grounder had no idea if the former artist returned them. However, all who came near could feel the tension between them. The question of the hour was would Clarke live long enough to discover what kind of tension it was. 

As soon as the four were in the clear, Bellamy ran back to the battle with a worried look at Clarke and then the ferocious look of someone who didn't know if someone they cared for would live or die. His sister ran for Abby, Clarke's mother and a doctor. Lexa stood, looking truly broken, at Clarke's head, wiping blood from her face and tucking hair behind her ears.

"Don't you dare die on me, Klark kom Skaikru. I have yet to pay my debt back to you. You cannot go until I have completely expressed my regret." Lexa rambled in an odd combination of her own language and English. Octavia returned with a pale and terrified Abby, behind them hobbled on also stricken looking Raven Reyes. 

"Save her healer, please."

"I'm her mother. Of course I'm going to save her." Abby practically growls as she cuts off the remnants of Clarke's shirt. Lexa never moves and consistently maintains a grip on the blonde's hand, terrified of missing anything. 

"Shouldn't you return to the battle, Commander?" Raven asks. 

"Octavia is strong enough to maintain my position with Indra at her side. Go, with my blessing." Lexa turns to Octavia, kisses three fingers, and presses them to her forehead, then Octavia's. The warrior girl taps her heart with a fist, then ran to the battle as her Heda had bid. 

"Tell me truthfully, can she make it?" Lexa asks, looking to Abby like much less the warrior queen and more like a terrified teenage girlfriend. Emphasis on the teenage part. 

"She's losing so much blood. It's so hard to say. Raven, pass me my forceps and get the dagger out of the brazier. Lexa, hold her down and don't let her up no matter how much she screams." Abby instructs. Lexa can't help but wonder if this is how Clarke seems when she works as a medic, her strong and calloused hands wrapping around Clarke's bare shoulders. Inside she marveled at the softness of the skin and begged for those closed eyes to open.

Raven hands Abby a dagger that had been heated to red hot in a fire carefully, then heads to Clarke's legs to hold them down as well. Lexa begs into Clarke's ear for her to wake up in English, Trigedasleng, and every other language she knows. 

"Please just wake up and look at me." She whispers as the flat of the dagger meets the ugly gaping wound. Clarke's entire body bucks up in protest of the pain and she screams from the center of her entire being. The sound carries so much pain, rage, and hurt that it physically causes the Commander enough pain that she retched to hear of it. Abby only holds the dagger there for two counts, but Raven and Lexa have to hold Clarke down for another three afterwards. 

Finally Clarke's body falls limp and Laura picks up her head again only to have her tight squeeze returned. 

"Clarke, are you awake?" Lexa whispers as Abby continues her work with Raven's help.

"Water." Clarke groans in an incredibly hoarse voice.

"I'll get it." Raven says, wanting to get out of the room, heavy with Lexa's adoring heart eyes, and Abby's nervous tension.

" I had feared that you might have come to hate me." Lexa holds one of Clarke's hands in both of her own. 

 

"I wanted to hate you. Wanted to so badly. I tried to. Never stuck." Clarke explains, her voice raspy from her screams. Raven hobbles back, armed with a cup of water, though Lexa had instinctively noticed that the crippled genius's gun in the back of her waistband when she had left. She accepts it gratefully and raises it to Clarke's lips. 

"You did what you had to do to survive. For you and for your people. Down here, we all are going to have to learn how to do that. We have to learn to separate who we actually are, and who we are going to have to be to make it. You should be out there with the rest of the alliance." Clarke mumbles through the haze of pain and exhaustion. 

"My head's place is out there, but remember that my heart is with you." Lexa affirms to her. It pained her to know that she wouldn't be with Clarke for the beginning of her recovery. However, she knew her people needed her. 

"Come here for a second." Clarke tells her with a crook of a finger. Lexa leans down to Clarke's level obediently. 

"Just be sure that you come back to me." She curls one shaking hand around the back of Lexa's neck and pulls herself up enough to kiss her solidly for a whole second with soft and chapped lips. 

"May we meet again."  
"May we meet again." Lexa replies, feeling like she could take the entire Ice Nation on by herself if it were for Clarke.


	3. Runaway Royalty

Clarke was working her stand in the market as usual. Everyday she stood in the four by four stall and sold her mother's leftover herbs, special poultices, & medicines while Abby herself tended patients at their practice. Clarke had gotten into the habit of people watching as opposed to hawking her wares the way that she was supposed to. For every person that passed, she invented a story in her mind. 

The older woman who always had a flock of children around her was a mother four grown, women and a teenage son. The children were her daughters', who all adored the old lady (at least in Clarke's mind). The young couple who always stopped by the stall next door, came by next. Clarke had decided that they were either trying for a baby or were very early on in expecting, from the way that they tended towards the pink and blue dyed cloths. Sometimes the pair would glance at the items Clarke's mom had sent with her, but she had never seen them buy anything from anyone. Today, however, everything was changing. 

"Do you have anything that might promote one's fertility?" The young man asked in (whom Clarke assumed to be) his wife's behalf.

"Yes sir, this is a thing that the women in my mother's family have prepared for centuries. Plus, it's probably the reason I exist." Clarke said jovially, glad that she was right. She pulled a vial of the stuff from under the shelf that she had been saving for them just in case. 

"Here you go, that's only 15 if you don't mind." Clarke requested.

 

"Thank you very much." She said as they took their potion and left. That is, they tried to, but were run over by a teenager, hidden by a long and cowled cloak.

"I'm so sorry!" The girl called over her shoulder before falling into a slide and ducking in between stalls to hide behind Clarke's. 

"Is he okay?" She asks, the hood falling back to reveal a beautiful and terrified face. 

"Yeah, he's fine. What are you running from? Who are you?!" Clarke spits out, hesitant to reveal the location of someone who looks so scared and is so absolutely gorgeous, even as guards tore down the main path.

"My name is Lexa and I'm running from those guards to be completely honest. However, I haven't done anything wrong. There's a job that they've been training me for that I really don't want to do anymore, and now they're trying to force me to." She was basically pleading with Clarke now, her eyes filled with tears. The blonde girl knew that she wouldn't be able to turn over someone who looked so completely vulnerable.

 

"Alright Lexa, I'll help you but, if this gets me killed, I will be very put out with you." Clarke puts her hands on her hips, trying not to smirk. 

 

"Thank you, so much." Lexa sighs with relief, finally leaning back in her spot and exhaling a breath she didn't know she had been holding. 

"Who am I to turn down a pretty girl?" Clarke asks with a smirk.

"That's what I always say." Lexa agrees, curling into a comfortable ball.

 

"So, where do you plan on going from here?" Clarke asks, only pretending to return to her work. She was much more interested in seeing what this strange girl had to say. 

 

"I...hadn't really thought that far ahead." Lexa admits. 

 

"Do you at least know where you are going to stay tonight?" Clarke asks with an expression of astonished amusement. 

"Uhm, yeah, no, I don't know that either. I'm kind of making this all up as I go. I was mostly planning my escape, not what would come after I had gotten out." Lexa says sheepishly with a grin that could light up the whole city. Somehow, the longer Clarke was around this girl, the more familiar she seemed. 

"Do I know you from somewhere?" Clarke asked, the thought nagging at her from the back of her mind. 

"Probably not, I've been kept locked up for most of my life. My parents are very overprotective." Lexa explained. "I have passed through here a few times though."

"That must be it." Clarke said, despite not quite believing it. 

"Do you know where I could stay? I don't have any money, but I would work for my keep." Lexa asked, her eyes taking on that desperate and scared look again. 

"That's okay. You can just come home with me and stay in the loft. I spend the night up there when my mom and I have been fighting sometimes. It's warm, comfortable and dry. That's more than you would be getting without any money." Clarke offered, hoping against hope that she would take the offer. She knew that a pretty girl like Lexa, out on her own for what was probably the first time, wouldn't be safe. 

Clarke and her mother were by no means wealthy, but Clarke had been raised to share what she did have. Abby herself was a healer, teaching Clarke to do the same. They lived on a small farm, with a couple of farm hands to grow the herbs Abby needed to make teas and poultices. Lexa found it quite charming and could easily picture a small Clarke running around and getting in trouble. She allowed the younger blonde girl to lead her into the old building, the smell of drying herbs and flowers permeating the air. It was warm, airy, and full of light. 

"I know it's not much but this is home for me." Clarke said proudly. "I love this old place. Well, I'll bring you something to eat after dinner while I do chores. As much as I can smuggle out. When mom goes to bed, I'll come get you. We can share my room and get you some fresh clothes." Clarke offered, the moment gone and she was all business again. 

"If you need something and can't find me, get Raven, Bellamy, or Octavia. You can trust them to take care of you until all of this blows over, but unless something major happens, you're my little secret." The younger girl turns to her with a grin and collapses onto a bed of straw, making herself comfortable. She watched as Lexa took in her surroundings warily.

She paced in a circle, every now and then pausing to ask about what something was. Once she had acquainted herself she came back to Clarke and shed her coat, revealing a glittering sword hanging from her waist, breeches of some of the finest quality, and a tunic that usually would belong to one of the king's men. Lexa shook out her long hair so that it cascaded down her back in waves. She sat down beside of the blonde, the picture of perfect etiquette. Clarke gulped and stared, her eyes taking in a girl regal enough to be a queen, while still dirty enough to be a street rat. 

"Oh, dear Lord, what have I done?" Clarke asked herself aloud.

"You helped a princess to kidnap herself." Lexa said with a grin as Clarke's face paled.

 

\-------/////------- 

"So the job you were being groomed for?" Clarke asks, sitting beside of Lexa once more. 

"Being queen." Lexa answers. 

"And you don't want to be queen anymore?" Clarke looks confused. "Think of all of the good you could do?!" She looks confused and nervous, she had been so casual with the crown princess of the realm she had been befriending and no longer knew how to act around her. 

“I’m good with the whole ruling the kingdom thing, I’m upset with his and her royal highnesses’ attempts to marry me off to any and every pompous and princely prick who asks.” Lexa explains. “They don’t understand that I want to marry someone whom I love. Someone that will help me rule and whose opinion I trust and value. I want to marry someone that I want to be around, that I could have fun with, and look forward to seeing in our chambers when I’ve had a rough day.” 

Clarke instinctively reaches for the older girl’s hand.

“You can stay here as long as you feel that you need to. And you should, at least until you have come up with some sort of plan.”

The princess throws her arms around Clarke and hugs her tightly about the neck. “Thank you, thank you so much. I won’t forget this.” Lexa promises.

Hesitantly, Clarke returns the embrace, her arms enveloping Lexa’s small waist.

“You’re welcome. Try to stay quiet while I go in and make dinner. I will be back as soon as I can get free.” she promises with a small smile.

\------/////------

Abby came home rather put out with a patient and requested to take her dinner in her room, enabling Clarke to make it out to where she had hidden Lexa in record time. She brought their dinners out as well, being sure not to spill anything as best she could.

“Princess, I brought your dinner.” she hissed from the bottom of the ladder.

“Don’t call me that.” Lexa snapped back, unsure as to why she took umbrage to the title when it came from Clarke’s mouth. “You’ll get us caught.” she added in an attempted cover up.

“You have nothing to worry about, everyone but the two of us have gone home and gone to bed. Mom is in her room eating and will surely be asleep soon as well.” Clarke explained, though the harshness had stung, passing Lexa’s food up to her and bringing her own as she came. They ate in silence for a moment before Lexa started to stare at Clarke as though she wanted to ask something, but couldn’t. Clarke had caught her watching a few times, but never addressed it, however this was the fifth time and it was starting to bother her.

“Whatever it is, feel free to ask. Who am I to stop you?” Clarke grumbles.

“There are two things.” says Lexa, ignoring the jape. “Firstly, I would ask that you simply call me Lexa. My given name is Alexandra, but Lexa is my preference.” She states, her face going red. she paused for moment, awaiting Clarke’s reaction.

“Okay, go on.” she replies rather coldly.  
“The second is a question. Did you paint these?” she continues with a gesture towards some canvases that leaned against a wall beside of a makeshift easel.

“Most of them, yeah.” Clarke confirms what Lexa had pretty much already known. There was just a sense of Clarke’s essence behind them.

“Who did the others?” Lexa asks, shifting them to try and figure out which were Clarke’s.

“My father...before he died. He’s the one who taught me. It was our thing. I always had so much more in common with him than my mother.” Clarke rambles.

“They’re beautiful.” Lexa sighs, looking at landscapes and portraits that absolutely captivated her. Every now and then Clarke would point out one that was her father’s as opposed to her own, or what she was thinking or feeling whilst painting a particular one. Lexa was particularly intrigued by Clarke’s painting of the castle.

“I can’t believe that you actually lived there. It’s so big. There must be so many rooms.” Clarke murmured.

“It’s lonely. I could wander the halls for hours and never run into anyone that was specifically assigned to keep track of me. You never know if someone wants to be your friend for you, or if they want to because you are all set to rule the kingdom one day. And, of course, my parents had zero time for me.” Lexa explains. “I had someone to cater to my every whim. Just like you would expect, but it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be. I completely lacked independence and privacy. I couldn’t go anywhere on my own, guards were on my constantly ‘for my own protection.’” Lexa continues while Clarke just sits back and lets her vent because she clearly needs it.

“Someone was always wanting something from me. Alexandra, ask your father this for me. Alexandra, sit up straighter. Alexandra, put on a dress for dinner. Alexandra, give me a raise. Don’t get me started on my parents, either. Arranged marriages, Clarke. They routinely paraded these pompous princes in front of me, day in and day out. Not one has a lick of sense or a romantic bone in his body. If it’s to a boy like that, or a boy at all, I never wish to marry. Some have even gotten my name wrong.”

“That is not at all what I would have expected. I am sorry, Princess.” Clarke says softly, as she absorbed everything that she had heard.

“It has been a long time since I have truly had someone listen to me and care about what I’m saying. I would ask you to call me Lexa. You would make as fine a princess as I.” Lexa’s speech slipped back into her formal style again.

“Was there nothing enjoyable about life in court?” Clarke asks, ever the curious one.

“I enjoyed training out in the yard with the men, when I could get away with it. The stables were another favorite place, the horses fascinated me and I truly love to ride. Lessons could be pleasant, depending on the tutor. With the proper partner I could talk for hours about the history of the kingdom. Still, I have always craved a simpler lifestyle.” Lexa had a faraway look in her eyes.

“You’re in luck, then. I live the simplest of lives, though I have always craved adventure.” Clarke said teasingly, gesturing to their surroundings. “Come, my mother is surely asleep by this point.” her legs creaked and joints popped as she stood. Clarke had not noticed the hour growing later and later as they had talked.

Clarke slid down the ladder and gave Lexa her hand to steady her getting down, feeling every bit the courtier. Her heart beat hard against her chest inexplicably. It wasn’t everyday that you got to hold a princess’ hand, or at least that’s what she was blaming it on. Quietly, the unlikely pair stole through the darkness across the field to Clarke’s small home. Lexa’s eyes devoured everything they landed on, attempting to connect what she saw to the blonde girl in front of her. 

None of what she was seeing seemed very Clarke-like. She didn’t feel like Clarke truly belonged in a place like this. It seemed to Lexa that someone like Clarke was meant for more than just this simple life of working day-in and day-out. Lexa wished that she were able to do something about it, but living as a commoner stripped her of all of her power and sway over anyone.

Clarke guided Lexa by the hand into her bedroom. Her room was small and orderly, the defining features being a large window overlooking a meadow, and a twin size bed with a straw mattress in the corner. The rest was strictly utilitarian. Well, except for the rapier hung over a bench. It was standard military issue and judging by the scabbard, had been carried by someone who knew how to and had been forced to use it.

“My father’s. His company brought it back to us after…” Clarke didn’t have to finish her sentence. Lexa could gather her meaning.

“Mom couldn’t bear to even look at it so I took it.” Clarke rushed out.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Lexa said and gently touched the hilt. “Yu gonplei ste odon.” she said formally.

“May we meet again.” Clarke added in the common tongue to Lexa’s Trigedasleng. 

“Here, let me get you something to sleep in. There’s a basin of clean water beside of the bed and a rag to wash with. Make yourself at home, since that’s what this will be to you for as long as you wish it.” Clarke said as she dug around for some cleaner clothes for the both of them.

Having found something that she deemed suitable, Clarke passed the items to the older girl, turning to find her already stripped down to her smallclothes. She swallowed thickly and tried to find a suitable place to fix her eyes, finally settling on maintaining eye contact until she could turn away to blush profusely. Once she was safely turned away she began to undress as well, grumbling about sore muscles and hot princesses as she did so. With Clarke safely facing the other direction, Lexa took her offered opportunity to observe the show. Clarke’s skin looked soft and smooth as she pulled off her shirt, pants, and smallclothes under Lexa’s watchful gaze. The brunette could easily imagine how it would feel to run the pads of her fingers up and down those sides. The younger girl was well muscled from years of farm living, and Lexa found herself wanting to know the story of each of those thin, pale scars and she wanted the chance to touch each and every one of them.

Having gotten dressed herself, Lexa leaned back onto the bed, waiting for Clarke to join her. She chose to be against the wall, facing away, as she contemplated just why her heart was beating so hard against her chest. Sure, Clarke was a beautiful woman, but Lexa’s own bedmaids had been attractive as well.

“I’m glad that I chose your particular stand to hide behind.” Lexa says as she feels Clarke’s weight being lowered onto the bed.

“I am too.”

“I can’t believe that I got so lucky. I haven’t actually slept alone in years, and I wasn’t sure how well it would have gone.” Lexa admits. Talking about things like that were so much easier in the anonymous dark of the night.

“I’ve never slept with anyone before so excuse my awkwardness. I’ve got no idea of how this is supposed to work.” Clarke confesses in return.

“Put one arm around my waist and you’re good.” Lexa instructs, her own face reddening in the pitch night as well. Clarke turns so that her front is pressed to Lexa’s back and wraps an arm around the older girl’s waist.

“Like that?” Clarke asks, just to be sure that she was doing it correctly.

“Perfect.” Lexa affirmed, snuggling a little bit closer to the blonde, her breathing halting as she felt breasts against her back.

Clarke grinned, maybe this little crush of hers wasn’t as unrequited as she had initially assumed.

Chapter Two  
Clarke woke up to the sound of boots on solid dirt, a troop of guardsmen visible in the near distance. Fear struck through her like a knife. She shot up out of bed and took a deep breath. She shook Lexa without a word and pressed a finger to her lips. She pointed out of the window to the guardsmen and kissed Lexa’s forehead before rushing to change her clothes.  
“I have to get you out of here.” Clarke whispers. “I have a place, but you will have to go ahead of me.” she places a pack pulled from heaven knows where to Lexa and drags her in close. “You need to hurry.”  
“I don’t want to leave you.” Lexa looks like she is about to cry.  
“You have to, but I will catch up just as soon as I possibly can.” Clarke promises. “Take this with you.”  
“I could never possibly take your father’s sword. I have no right. This is one of the few things that you have left of him. I refuse.” Lexa says formally, though her eyes betray how honored she is and how deeply she feels for Clarke.  
“I have another. Don’t you believe that my father would not have given me the training I required to use it?” Clarke asks, a hint of mischief and something else in her voice.  
“You’re an artist and a healer. What need have you of a blade?” Lexa asks,  
“I am also a woman who lives alone with her mother and there are certain other risks that come along with that.” Clarke reminds her. “At least when you are a peasant, now run. Run faster than you ever have before. Remember that I have seen you run your fastest before and I will be taking notes for comparisons.”  
Lexa turns to take off but is caught by Clarke’s hand on her arm. Then, she is frozen in place by Clarke’s lips on hers, fast and hard.  
“Okay, you can go now. I’m good.” Clarke whispers softly.  
“Come quickly.” Lexa orders, pain in her eyes at knowing that Clarke might not make it out of this alive.


	4. Wake Me Up

Lexa had been seriously grumpy every day for the past week. Well, to be honest, she was usually grumpy, she was just grumpier than she was normally. Someone new had just moved in next door and was ridiculously loud almost every single night, It was driving the young woman absolutely nuts. SHe had heard that the new girl was an intern at a hospital.nearby and that that might be the reason for the very late nights or the very early mornings. Despite how she found herself keeping the very young doctor’s hours as well, Lexa couldn’t help but to also appreciate the woman’s obvious dedication. Maybe that was why, when her new neighbor was making what sounded like crying noises directly outside of Lexa’s apartment, Lexa went out to check on her.  
“Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey...are you alright?” she asks when she finds her neighbor having sunk to the floor and sobbing into her hands. “What happened?”  
“DId I wake you up? I’m so...I’m -hic- so sorry.” she apologizes.   
“It’s all okay. I was awake anyways.” Lexa lies. “Come on inside, let’s get you all cleaned up.” she pulls the young doctor up by the arm and leads her into the apartment.  
“What’s your name, sweetheart?” Lexa asks, having never found that out herself.  
“Clarke...Griffin. Dr. Clarke Griffin. Clarke Griffin, MD.” she says over and over again.  
“Alright...Dr. Griffin. Do you want to tell me why you’ve been crying your eyeballs out, at …. four in the morning?” Lexa groans, wanting to cry as well herself, out of sheer exhaustion.  
“I got just a little bit attached to one of my patients...just a little bit. It was completely on accident, but she was just so sweet and it was kind of impossible not to.” Clarke cries a little bit more, while Lexa puts on some coffee for herself and soothing chamomile tea for the crying blonde. “She died on my operating table an hour ago. She was only six years old.”  
The young intern seems to be pulling herself together a little bit at this point, leaving Lea sighing with relief as the coffee hits her bloodstream.  
“Was it your fault?” Lexa asks.  
“No, of course not. I’m barely allowed to just stand there and watch, much less to touch a patient.” Clarke looks startled that her host would ask such a thing.  
“Did you do everything that you possibly could to help. to the best of your ability, giving it everything that you had?” Lexa asks.  
“Yeah, yeah I did.” Clarke nods firmly, still sniffling a little bit.  
“Then you did well, and you have nothing to cry about. Find something in all of this that you can learn from and do even better the next time.” Lexa recommends “Now, I have to go to work in thirty minutes or so, so just settle in anywhere and leave whenever you feel ready to.” Lexa says, leading a sleepy-tired looking Clarke over to the couch where she is pretty sure that the younger woman is going to fall asleep at any given moment. She had already had an obviously already pretty rough day (night?) and Lexa knew that she really did need a good and long break.   
Clarke Griffin had really and truly ruined Lexa’s day by showing up at her apartment. She couldn’t seem to go an entire minute without wondering about whether or not she was okay. Lexa had no idea either, about why she suddenly cared so much about someone who was really just a stranger to her. Maybe it had been the sadness in Clarke’s eyes or the pain that she had been feeling before she had been reassured that she had done nothing at all wrong, when she had felt as though she should have been able to do something more to help. She really liked the way that the good doctor Griffin was able to care without needing to know much. Maybe, then, she was just starting to like Clarke Griffin, that’s what she was thinking as she packed up to go home.  
She hesitated a little bit at her door, a paper bag of bagels, and cream cheeses and honeys in her hand. Lexa wasn’t entirely sure whether or not she wanted Clarke to be there, still lying on her couch or not. She shoved her nerves down, began to grit her teeth, and entered her little home. The water was running in her shower and she was quite sure that had definitely not left it on. She smiled a little bit to herself, gathered up some plates, and set out the snacks for both herself and Dr. Clarke Griffin.  
The water cut off and Clarke stepped out of the bathroom, wearing nothing but a towel. Her hair, still wet, was tied up in a knot on her head. Lexa felt her heart jump up and into her throat and a little bit of something else drop down and farther into her.  
“Hey there...Dr. Griffin. Did you have a nice shower?” she asks awkwardly.  
“Uhm, yeah. Thanks.” she replies, equally awkwardly.   
“I brought us breakfast. Every kind of bagel, jam, cream cheese, and honey that you could possible want. I didn’t know what you liked.” Lexa announces.  
“Oh, wow. You didn’t have to do that. I’ve got to go to the hospital and work in a couple of hours.” Clarke says, obviously rather touched. She immediately plopped down onto one of the stools at the little kitchen island and spread cream cheese over one of the chocolate chip bagels.  
“I thought that they would be a nice treat, just in case you were still here.” Lexa says with a shrug, trying to appear uncaring that the younger woman was literally eating breakfast with her wearing nothing, naked but for a towel.  
“I’ll run, grab some clothes and come and grab another one, if that’s alright.?” Clarke asks.  
“Yeah, definitely.” Lexa says with a nod as Clarke struggles to keep her towel up while eating at the same time  
“Be right back.” she says as well, kissing Lexa on the cheek as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Lexa’s breath caught inside of her chest, having not expected that at all.  
She tried very hard to shake off the fog in her mind and the intense racing of her heart, but still by the time that Clarke was back, she could feel her pulse in her face. The bundle flopped back onto her stool in a clean pair of bright blue scrubs that very much made equally bright blue eyes pop out across the room, almost scaring Lexa. She wasn’t sure why but she just kept staring. Clarke’s intelligent blue eyes had captivated her.  
“Have a good day at work, Clarke.” she said sheepishly.  
“Thank you, Lexa, for everything.” Clarke says as well, her soft smile wearing that she means it.  
“Hey, I’ll be here when you get…” Lexa says, but gets cut off when Clarke steps into her, one arm around her Lexa’s waist, locking her in, and the other one in Lexa’s hair, pulling her in closer. Their lips met and Lexa’s melted easily under Clarke’s immediately and totally taken in.   
“You can bet that I will wake you up.” Clarke says with a grin, having already been completely aware that she woke up her gorgeous neighbor every single morning, though totally on accident.  
“I think that this time I might be looking forward to it.” Lexa remplies with a shrug, pulling Clarke back in and kissing her again, cupping her cheek with one hand, softly.


	5. Sick Fic

“Uh-uh, no way, Lexa. There isn’t anything that you can say to me right now to convince me to let you go out on patrol today. I’m sure that Octavia and Indra have it all under control.” Clarke informs a snotty nosed Lexa as she tried to put on her armor without sneezing into it.  
“I am the Commander, I don’t get to take sick days.” she protests.  
“I am both your wife and your doctor, which means that you have to do as I say, my love.” Clarke raises her eyebrows at Lexa in her no nonsense manner.  
“Yes, ma’am!” Lexa answers her in simultaneous surprise and amusement.  
“And wouldn’t you rather stay at home with your loving wife anyways?” Clarke asks directly into the Commander’s ear as she starts to help Lexa out of her armor.  
“Well...yes.” Lexa answers, unsure of how to react anymore. She wraps her arms around Clarke’s neck behind her and leans back, dressed in only her breast band and underwear now. Clarke kissed the base of her next, Lexa’s skin burning against her lips and wraps her arms around her waist, holding her tight.  
“You’re my wife and when it’s just the two of us here, it’s my job to take care of you.” Clarke reminds her, one hand sliding down Lexa’s waist to relieve her of her underwear as well.  
Lexa turns around in Clarke’s embrace and presses her lips to Clarke’s, finally getting the hint Clarke falls back against the bed, allowing Lexa to straddle her as she pulls her own shirt off and over her head. The Commander pulls in closer and smiles as Clarke’s hands reach around to loosen Lexa’s braids, something that the healer and artist was the only one who had any right to do.  
Clarke grins back at her and, using one arm around Lexa’s waist, flips them over onto the bed so that she was sitting over Lexa’s bare waist. The Commander laughed aloud at that, dissolving into fits of giggles.


	6. Post-Apocalyptic HSAU

After they had gotten married, Clarke had been getting to go along to a lot of Lexa’s different meetings so that the Sky people could start to have a say in the government and the way that things were run. It all became a giant sharing of ideas, but there was only one thing that Clarke herself had insisted on. She wanted the children, and the future children of their people to be set for life ahead. When Clarke had nervously suggested this at one such council meeting, she had been terrified. She had stopped being quite so afraid once Lexa, so much less the Commander when faced by her wife, had started to smile so hard that it looked like she might accidentally break her own face.  
“I do care too, you know.” Clarke had grumbled.  
“I know that I was just so happy to see you working together with my people. Our people. We are one people now and it’s good to see us finally acting like it. A school is just what we need. Children will bring us all together.” Lexa muses aloud, pacing across their bedroom as she talks.  
“You forget that when it comes to the first landing part of the Sky People, we are almost all children. Some of them still might be a bit biased.” Clarke forewarns.  
“It is nothing that we can’t all deal together.” Lexa grins and jumps up with a smile.  
“Who will teach at the school?” Clarke asks, wanting to have answers ready before she faces the planning committee the next morning.  
“I was thinking that you would be perfect for the job, along with one of my leaders for the physical part of their education. You are one of the smartest people that I know. For the harder parts, two of your adults can hold lessons, your mother for instance, or that angry man who follows her around Lexa suggests as Clarke gets a pen and paper to make notes.  
“That’s good.” Clarke matters. “We’ll need a place to do this, somewhere neutral so as not to make anyone uncomfortable. We’ll need extra paper and/or slates and/or pens, and maybe a translator too. Someone that we can trust.”  
“Indra will make a fine instructor. Ocktavia has been needing more responsibilities within my forces anyways, and Indra has been getting tired.” Lexa says thoughtfully, enjoying coming up with ideas with Clarke. She really was becoming a large part of the Commander’s life and they made a perfect team. She comes around to the other side of the table and kisses Clarke, easily distracting her.  
“My wife.” she murmurs and Clarke just goes along with it, no idea what is going on anymore.


	7. Arranged Marriage

“I don’t see, at all why this is necessary.” Clarke groans as her mother pins up her hair in the traditional wedding style of the Grounder people.  
“I know that you don’t, but it was your idea, honey. You can back out at any point and we would all back you up Bellamy would be ecstatic. Anyway, I thought that this was something that you wanted.” Abby doesn’t actually know what to say to comfort her daughter.  
“This is what I want. I just wish that it were under different circumstances. I wish that I knew her better and I wish that she hadn’t completely and totally betrayed me. That betrayal is what forced us into this anyway.” Clarke groans.  
“You wish that you had it in you to forgive her.” Abby nods understandingly. She wished for a lot of things too. Her little girl wasn’t a little girl anymore and sometimes she felt like a total stranger.  
“The worst part is that this is exactly what she wants. First I tell her that I’m not ready and immediately afterwards when I’m starting to feel ready, she betrays me in the most brutal way. Now, she’s getting me back against my will and is totally going to try to bully me into forgiving her and letting it go. I can’t. I won’t.” Clarke grumbles, refusing to look into the mirror to see herself.  
“You might not be about to enjoy your wedding, but you look absolutely beautiful, sweetheart.” Abby tells her.  
It had taken a lot to get Clarke cleaned up and pretty for her big day She was bathed in the hot springs near TonDC and was wearing Grounder clothes, a white tunic and pants made out of woven linens. Her hair was pulled around her forehead in a single braid, with what was left falling down in waves. Clarke still didn’t feel beautiful, gorgeous, or even pretty. She felt dirty and cheap. She felt as though she were being forced into an arranged marriage.  
“Alright, I guess that you’re as ready and willing as you are going to get.” Abby says with a sigh, her feigned interest going absolutely nowhere.  
“Let’s just get this the hell over with.” Clarke snaps to her mother, brushing past her and out of the door. Abby sighs heavily again in response and joins Clarke, taking her aim in preparation to walk her down the aisle where she would wait for the other bride. This was not at all how she had pictured this day occurring. Then again, she had always pictured this day occurring aboard the Ark.  
Clarke herself had never really pictured herself getting married to anyone at all ever. She had much less imagined herself marrying the Commander of the Grounder army. She had never managed to think that any of this could have ever been possible before landing on the good green earth. She swallowed hard as she allowed her mother to lead her down the leaf covered dirt path, her bare feet not making a sound. When they reached the stone altar, Abigail Griffin kissed her daughter’s cheek and released her.  
“I love you. It will all be okay.”  
She felt as though she had been waiting for ages for Lexa to arrive when the doors opened up and the young woman began to walk the aisle to join her. She was flanked from behind on on her other sides by her strongest and best warriors, including Octavia Blake, Indra and Lincoln. Lexa was dressed in the same white linen outfit as Clarke and conspicuously missing war paint absent from her face. Her clothing was stark white against her tanned skin and dark tattoos. Despite how badly she didn’t want it to, she was struck deeply by all of the caring and love that was in Lexa’s eyes, and it kind of scared her a little bit. It was all too intense.   
Now they were going to get married and all Clarke wanted to do was run. She very much wanted to run away as quickly as she could, right then. Lexa disturbed her with her multiple sides. She looked so much younger without her warpaint and her armor, not at all as though she were the Commander of an entire nation and their army. It completely confused Clarke, the sense of innocence, humanity, and warmth that came form Lexa without her shields, armies, and walls up around her. It all got jumbled up with the fierce warrior, the fierce leader, and the fierce Commander that she had gotten used to.  
Despite her mind screaming at her to run, the look in LExa’s eyes held her in place. Clarke was frozen by the kindness, warmth, and compassion that she was finding there. It was startling and very sudden and the young blonde woman didn’t know what to do with the information as the official looking man said some stuff in Trigedasleng and Lexa took each of Clarke’s hands in her own. Then, it seemed like it was their turn to talk, luckily Lexa went first in a formal but sweet tone.  
“I never thought that it would have to come to this of all things. I had wished for things to be simple and easy between the people of the sky and the people of the trees, but as it usually ends up in war, it got hard and it got complicated. Nothing was anyone’s fault, the Sky People and the Grounders were both looking after their own. No one can blame either of us.” Lexa addressed her people , every inch the teenage Commander, all eyes were on her, every ear hanging on her each and every word. Clarke had always wondered what she did to make that happen. After her address to the people she commanded, Lexa turned to Clarke, looking straight into her eyes unflinching and unapologetic for the pure adoration that was there.  
“I had hoped for a time when things could be more simple and more easy between the two of us as well. I admire you greatly and have since I met you. You are a strong leader, a fierce warrior, a gentle healer, and a beautiful young woman forced to grow up much more quickly than you should have been. Someday you might find that I can understand, and that I too share this quality with you. I hope that we can rediscover some of our youth together.”  
“I have found that one of your best attributes is your loyalty to your friends. WIth this union, your friends are mine and mine are yours. I will do my best to be as you would be to them.” Lexa promises and Clarke can tell that she means it. Her beautiful blue eyes start to fill with tears. She hadn’t expected any of these sweet words to have ever come from Lexa. She didn’t know what to do with the new information.  
“Clarke Skaikru, will you address your people?” the official looking guy says. She really and truly hated public speaking and Lexa’s grip on her hands tightened reassuringly.  
“Uh, yeah, sure.” she answers him sheepishly. “The Sky people have lost a lot. We landed on this strange, new Earth expecting a hot and fiery death, or a slow and painful one from radiation poisoning. When neither of those came to meet us, we were set to meet even more challenges. We were leaderless, we were hungry and defenseless. What did we do? We did what we knew to do, we survived. My family was composed of 99 people, exactly, when we got here, and until this point that number has fallen with very few fluctuations.” Clarke glanced to Raven Reyes and then to her mother, Abby Griffin.  
“Now, i am surrounded by a new family, joining with my old one. Now, we can all defend one another. Now, we don’t have to be alone.” Clarke announces, trying to sound like the Commander had.  
“Commander, Lexa, thank you for being here for me. Thank you for making sure that I am never alone again. As your wife, I swear that you can be as soft and warm with me as you wish in safety and security. WIth me, you can be Leksa. With me, you will always have permission to be as open and honest and vulnerable as you like with no judgement.” Clarke said without thinking about it. She had not come prepared to give a speech, but as soon as she stopped and allowed herself to think about what she wanted married life with the Commander to be like, the words came to her. She didn’t want to marry the Commander, she wanted to marry Lexa, or Leksa as it were. She also couldn’t help but to realize that she didn’t want to run anymore.  
Lexa, just Lexa now, leaned forward to kiss Clarke’s cheek the way dignitaries did when they married someone and wanted to respect the bounds of an arranged marriage with only political motivations. Clarke, not wanting a relationship along those lines at all, turned her face to Lexa’s, kissing her full on the mouth and stepping into her personal space Lexa made a soft sound of pleasant surprise, and laughed a little bit into the back of her throat, her hands coming to rest on Clarke’s forearms. They smiled when they broke apart, their foreheads resting against one another.  
“You never fail to surprise me.”  
“I never fail to surprise me, either.” Clarke answers.  
“I know that you don’t have it in you to forgive me now, but I hold out hope for the future, my wife.” Lexa murmurs.  
“I do appear to be stuck with you forever, now.”  
“I do believe that you are. I’m not thinking that it will be at all unpleasant though.”   
“Me either.”


End file.
